DECEMBER 21st, NIGHT.--The boatswain rushed to the halliards that
supported the sail, and instantly lowered the yard; and not a moment too
soon, for with the speed of an arrow the squall was upon us, and if
it had not been for the sailor’s timely warning we must all have been
knocked down and probably precipitated into the sea; as it was, our tent
on the back of the raft was carried away.
The raft itself, however, being so nearly level with the water, had
little peril to encounter from the actual wind; but from the mighty
waves now raised by the hurricane we had everything to dread. At first
the waves had been crushed and flattened as it were by the pressure of
the air, but now, as though strengthened by the reaction, they rose with
the utmost fury. The raft followed the motions of the increasing swell,
and was tossed up and down, to and fro, and from side to side with the
most violent oscillations “Lash yourselves tight,” cried the boatswain,
as he threw us some ropes; and in a few moments, with Curtis’s
assistance, M. Letourneur, Andre, Falsten, and myself were fastened so
firmly to the raft, that nothing but its total disruption could carry us
away. Miss Herbey was bound by a rope passed round her waist to one
of the uprights that had supported our tent, and by the glare of the
lightning I could see that her countenance was as serene and composed as
ever.
Then the storm began to rage indeed. Flash followed flash, peal followed
peal in quick succession. Our eyes were blinded, our ears deafened, with
the roar and glare. The clouds above, the ocean beneath, seemed verily
to have taken fire, and several times I saw forked lightnings dart
upwards from the crest of the waves, and mingle with those that radiated
from the fiery vault above. A strong odour of sulphur pervaded the air,
but though thunderbolts fell thick around us, not one had touched our
raft.
By two o’clock the storm had reached its height. The hurricane had
increased, and the heavy waves, heated to a strange heat by the general
temperature, dashed over us until we were drenched to the skin. Curtis,
Dowlas, the boatswain, and the sailors did what they could to strengthen
the raft with additional ropes. M. Letourneur placed himself in front
of Andre to shelter him from the waves. Miss Herbey stood upright and
motionless as a statue.
Soon dense masses of lurid clouds came rolling up, and a crackling, like
the rattle of musketry, resounded through the air. This was produced by
a series of electrical concussions, in which volleys of hailstones were
discharged from the cloud-batteries above. In fact, as the storm-sheet
came in contact with a current of cold air, hail was formed with great
rapidity, and hailstones, large as nuts, came pelting down, making the
platform of the raft re-echo with a metallic ring.
For about half an hour the meteoric shower continued to descend, and
during that time the wind slightly abated in violence; but after having
shifted from quarter to quarter, it once more blew with all its former
fury. The shrouds were broken, but happily the mast, already bending
almost double, was removed by the men from its socket before it should
be snapped short off. One gust caught away the tiller, which went adrift
beyond all power of recovery, and the same blast blew down several of
the planks that formed the low parapet on the larboard side, so that the
waves dashed in without hindrance through the breach.
The carpenter and his mates tried to repair the damage, but, tossed from
wave to wave, the raft was inclined to an angle of more than forty-five
degrees, making it impossible for them to keep their footing, and
rolling one over another, they were thrown down by the violent shocks.
Why they were not altogether carried away, why we were not all hurled
into the sea, was to me a mystery. Even if the cords that bound us
should retain their hold, it seemed perfectly incredible that the raft
itself should not be overturned, so that we should be carried down and
stifled in the seething waters.
At last, towards three in the morning, when the hurricane seemed to be
raging more fiercely than ever, the raft, caught up on the crest of
an enormous wave, stood literally perpendicularly on its edge. For
an instant, by the illumination of the lightning, we beheld ourselves
raised to an incomprehensible height above the foaming breakers. Cries
of terror escaped our lips. All must be over now! But no; another
moment, and the raft had resumed its horizontal position. Safe, indeed,
we were, but the tremendous upheaval was not without its melancholy
consequences. The cords that secured the cases of provisions had
burst asunder. One case rolled overboard, and the side of one of the
water-barrels was staved in, so that the water which it contained was
rapidly escaping. Two of the sailors rushed forward to rescue the case
of preserved meat; but one of them caught his foot between the planks
of the platform, and, unable to disengage it, the poor fellow stood
uttering-cries of distress.
I tried to go to his assistance, and had already untied the cord that
was round me; but I was too late. Another heavy sea dashed over us, and
by the light of a dazzling flash I saw the unhappy man, although he
had managed without assistance to disengage his foot, washed overboard
before it was in my power to get near him. His companion had also
disappeared.
The same ponderous wave laid me prostrate on the platform, and as my
head came in collision with the corner of a spar, for a time I lost all
consciousness.